If ‘I Love You, Man’ was a simple ploy to get Jason Segel and Paul Rudd to share the screen again, the effort pays off through their undeniable chemistry and talent. Their previous film together was last year’s surprise comedy ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall.’ You might recall Segel’s character trying to get surfing lessons from a mind-warped instructor played by an almost unnoticeable Rudd. This time around, their characters are able to find a connection they can both enjoy with what’s humorously being called a ‘bromance’ comedy. In ‘I Love You, Man’ Rudd plays Peter Klaven; a recently engaged man who has tragically realized he has no one to fill in as the best man at his upcoming wedding. When he is encouraged by his fianc’eacute;e to start meeting new friends, the consistently girl-friendly Peter finds it hard to capture the spirit of a simple male-male friendship. After wading through an awkward series of situations that work to serve the film’s simple premise, Peter eventually meets the affable Sydney Fife (Segel) who immediately connects with Peter’s untrained tactics in casualness. There are many situations you can predict from the film’s catchphrase title, but director Jon Hamburg surprisingly takes this one trick premise and finds ways to keep it from wandering too far into redundancy. As Peter is busy regaining his inner-childhood with Sydney, the story is constantly finding ways to involve a conflict with other aspects of his life. Thanks to a comically endearing performance by Rashida Jones as Peter’s fianc’eacute;e Zoey, there’s enough to maintain a reasonable development of plot. More conflict arises when Zoey comes to the realization that her original plan may have possibly backfired on her. Still, it’s the honest performances by both Segel and Rudd that make for a hugely relatable storyline. Together, they capture the proper balance of drama and humor. Even though the story retains a fair amount of offensive content and four-letter dialogue, this comedy is ultimately charming due to the persistent playfulness of these two enjoyable actors. ‘I Love You, Man’ is yet another successful venture into the popular world of Judd Apatow storytelling and humor. Even though the comedy guru producer had almost nothing to do with this man-friendly story, there are still plenty of awkward moments, hysterical dialogues and wholesomely redeeming characters that just might have you loving this film, man.
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Paul Rudd film fills the screen with bromance, romance and humor
March 27, 2009
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